Stringed musical instrument



(No Model.)

A. SHAEPFER.

STRINGED MUSICAL INSTRUMENT.

No. 421,033. Patented Feb. 11, 1890.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ARLING SHAEFFER, OF DENVER, COLORADO.

" STRINGED MUSICAL INSTRUMENT SPECIFICATION forming part of LettersPatent No. 421,033, dated February 11, 1890.

Application filed January 28, 1889. Serial No. 297,853. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ARLING SHAEFFER, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, residing at Denver, in the county of Arapahoe and State ofColorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in StringedMusical Instruments, of which the following is a specification,referencebeing had therein to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to a novel and useful improvement in stringed musieal instruments of that class which have a body carrying asounding-board or other vibrating surface and a neck projectingtherefrom carrying the finger-board and a wrest-bar or head, which classis represented by the guitar, banjo, mandolin, &c.

It is well known to all performers on such instruments that the propermanipulation of the strings for an arpeggio or broken chords is adifiicult task; that in very many cases the notes of an arpeggio to beharmonious and effective, to chime in melodiously and fall naturally andeasily in with the air, and to add grace, beauty, or emphasis theretomust follow each other in rapid succession and in the proper sequence,oftentimes in the quickest possible musical time, the which requiresgreat experience and perfect familiarity with the key-board, great skilland tact in the application of such knowledge and experience, and muchmanual dexterity and ability to finger the strings rapidly andcorrectly, that the strings may be pressed down at the proper frets orat the correct points between frets in a quick sequence. Comparativelyfew performers succeed in mastering these essentials, such failurerendering it quite impossible for the average and sometimes even forotherwise quite good performers to render an arpeggio passage in theproper manner or to give thereto the harp-like effect, which is the function and the beauty of the arpeggio.

The object of my invention, therefore, is to so arrange or construct amusical instrument of the class referred to that an a-rpeggio may beplayed thereon or the notes of a chord struck in quick succession ineven the most rapid sequence without any previous expe rience thereasto,without any difliculty, and withoutany experience-win improvementreadily applied to either old or new instru ments and as either a fixedor a removable part thereof, of simple construction, as durable as anyother portion of the instrument, easily used, and reliable; to whichends the invention consists in attaching to or combining with such aninstrument and its regular strings one or more extra sets of strings,repa similar view with thednvention applied in a different way; Fig. 3,a central longitudinal View of part of a guitar; Fig. 4:, a top View ofa banjo with the invention applied thereto.

In the figures, the reference-numeral l indicates the body of themusical instrument; 2, the sounding-board; 3, the finger-board; 4, theregular strings, and 5 the wrest-bar or head, all of the usualconstruction and arrangement of such parts in the particular type ofinstrument in which they occur. In addition thereto one or more extrasets of strings are provided in practising my invention, two such sets 6and 7 being herein shown. These extra strings are located above thesounding-board, and are secured by any suitable fastening devices, suchbeing herein exemplified by the metal or other strips 12 13, fastened tothe body 1 and receiving and retaining one end of the strings, and bythe wrest-bar or head 14-, secured to the body and carrying the wrestsor pins 15 for the other ends of the strings.

Bridges 8, 9, 10, and 11 are placed at the proper point-s upon thesounding-board or vibrating surface 2 to sustain the extra strings atthe proper height. These strings may be arranged at an angle relativelyto the regular strings, as in Fig. 1, or parallel thereto, as in Fig. 2.WVhen only one set is usedsay set 6, as most convenient to the righthand-4t should be tuned in the chord the air or piece to he performed isto be played,

or in the chord most generally or likely to be used by the specialperformer. hen two are used, one should be tuned as just set forth andthe other be tuned in one of the three chords likewise played in.

\Vith an instrument thus arranged, when an arpeggio passage is reachedthe performer is not under the necessity of moving the fingers along thekey-board, of watching to see when the proper frets or inter-fret spacesare reached, or of using any care or skill orof fingering, a simplesweep across the appropriate extra set of strings rendering the passagemore effectively than could the most skilled performer. In addition, theextra sets of strings add to the effect of any playingon the regularstrings. IIarmoniously tuned and located above the sounding-board orvibrating surface affected. by the regular strings, they partake bysympathy of the vi brations of such regular strings and add to thevolume of the sound and to the limpidity and harmony thereof.

It is evident that many different forms of mechanical devices forsecuring and maintaining in position these extra sets of strings may beused without departing from the spirit of the invention. For instance,the extra wrest-bar or head may be permanently secured to the body byany suitable means, or it may be adjustably secured thereon, or it maybe detaehably secured thereto, an instance of detachable or temporarysecurement being shown in Fig. 3, wherein the wrest-bar 1% is formed ofwood, metal, or other material capable of securely holding the .pins 5.From it depend at suitable points arms or straps 17, turned at theirouter ends 18 to take upon the back 16 or the back edge of the body ofthe instrument. In such case the tension of the extra strings in onedirection and the resistance thereto of the part or end 18 will hold thewrest-bar in position until they are loosened and it be designedlyremoved. Again, while four separate bridges are shown, they may beunited to form one or two or three bridges, and they may be secured inany desired way to the sounding-board of a guitar, or may simply beplaced loosely thereon and held in position by the tension of thestrings. In case of a banjo, however, they should be placed loosely onthe head-in effect, a soundingboard-and should touch thereon at as fewpoints as is consistent with affording proper support to the strings, towhich end they should have projecting feet, (as has the ordinarybanjo-bridge,) at intervals lifting the body of the bridge above thehead. No matter, however, what changes may be made in the stringsecuring and supporting devices, the objects of the invention will beattained, its spirit preserved, and it carried into effect if one ormore extra sets of strings be attached to or combined with an instrumentof the kind noted; and it is further evident the string securing andmaintaining devices may be made and sold in set-s separately from theinstrument, to be attached thereto thereafter. It is to be noted, also,that these extra strings may be so arranged or tuned as to give anarpeggio or similar movement either upon a diatonic or a chromaticscale.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is- 1. A musicalinstrument of the class referred to having one or more extra sets ofstrings secured upon the exterior of the body thereof and over thesounding-board or equivalent vibrating surface, substantially as setforth.

2. A musical instrument having a body, a sounding-board or equivalentvibrating surface, a projecting neck carrying the lingerboard andwrest-bar, a regular set of strings, and one or more extra sets ofstrings secured upon the exterior of the body and extending over thesaid sounding board or surface.

3. The combination,with a musical instrument of the class referred to,of an extra wrest-bar, one or more extra string-retaining devices, andone or more extra bridges for supporting extra strings upon the exteriorof the body and over the sounding-board or equivalent vibrating surface,substantially as set forth.

i. A set of additional devices for a musical instrument of the classnoted, consisting of an extra wrest-bar, one or more string-retainingdevices, and one or more bridges, all adapted to be attached to orplaced upon the exterior of the body of the instrument and support extrastrings over the soundingboard or equivalent vibrating surface thereof,substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I aliix my signaturein presence of two witnesses.

ARLING SlIAEFFER.

\Vitnesses:

Z. F. WILBER, O. E. ADAMS.

